Why do people have so much pride about being an INTJ personality type?

It isn't that complicated if a person thinks about it. To illustrate my point, I will explain why being an INTJ is important to me.

For most of my life, I have been the recipient of advice like "get out of your shell" or "stop being anti-social". My least favorite line was "you can't really believe yourself when you say that you like being alone". I don't like socializing and I don't get any better at it no matter how much I "practice". I do like being alone, especially after long periods of forced socialization. I get criticized for being too detail-oriented and lost in my head. People think I am weird and try fixing me. People are constantly trying to expose me to society in the hopes that I will unlock the socialite that they are sure is in there somewhere. I felt guilty because I had no inclination in driving over to see my family each weekend during college. I had no self-confidence because I believed that self-confident people are outgoing. I battled depression because I felt broken and that I had no place in the world.

It was at this point where I learned about introversion and that there is nothing wrong with having a deep appreciation of solitude. This perked my interest in personality types and I soon took an MBTI test. I looked up the test results (100% introverted 41% iNtuitive 28% Thinking and 21% Judging) and read the INTJ profile. I have since read a number of them and found that the majority of the profiles fit me like a glove. I can plan better than most people. I have a better grasp of logic than most people. I find small talk meaningless. I think life is in the details. I enjoy sitting down and writing for hours. I love going to college and learning. This is what INTJs are. I learned that less than 3% of the population falls into the INTJ category and realized that I needed to stop trying to be like everyone else. I am what I am. I am an INTJ.

So, call me egotistical, arrogant, self-centered, a misfit, a jerk, a cynic, insecure, or whatever other terms fly around whenever INTJs are mentioned, but that will not change the fact that I know what I am. I am defined by myself, not by what other people think of a four-character sequence of letters. It just happens that those four letters describe a perfectly functional and not broken personality that I can identify with. That is why I can, with confidence, embrace uniqueness and take pride in dubbing myself an INTJ.